Palestinians begin a perilous flight from Gaza City

Israel says it wants civilians out of Gaza City so it can have a freer hand fighting the militant group

- Feliz Solomon & Suha Ma'ayeh

When the Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza City late last month, Nedal Kfarnah ignored the command. Moving is hard with one leg, five children and little money—and he had just managed to set his family up in a tent.

As the sounds of explosions drew closer, he reluctantly decided he would have to get going again. In recent days, he and his family joined the tens of thousands fleeing Gaza City, as Israel prepares to invade what it says is the last stronghold of Hamas.

Israel says it wants civilians out so it can have a freer hand fighting the militant group. It has ordered evacuations throughout the war as its troops moved from sector to sector.

Gaza City presents a particularly thorny humanitarian challenge. Israel and the United Nations estimate the area is home to roughly one million people—about half of the population of Gaza—some of whom have managed to stay put through nearly two years of war. They, along with others like Kfarnah who have been displaced several times, are now being evacuated to displacement camps in central Gaza that aren't prepared to handle the inflow.

"I wanted to get the little ones away from all that fear," Kfarnah, 34, said.

A senior official for Cogat, the Israeli military unit in charge of aid and other civilian affairs in Gaza and the West Bank, said Wednesday that Israel aims to evacuate all civilians from northern Gaza, which includes Gaza City. He estimated that around 70,000 people had left over the past week.

Israeli officials and aid workers think a large number of residents might refuse to leave. Many worry about the trip and the lack of space, food and water farther south. Hamas has urged people to stay put, and Israel has accused the group of coercing residents to stay.